


Owen

by frubeto



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: A Changeling, Don't Take This Too Seriously, Hijinks & Shenanigans, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Some Humor, also changelings don't have a gender they don't have a form why would they have a gender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-10-22 21:25:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17670386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frubeto/pseuds/frubeto
Summary: There was a surprise waiting for Paul when he entered his quarters. Shenanigans ensued.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The timeline with this is a little wonky. It's post-mirrorverse, but Hugh is there. And he probably hasn't been dead. Whatever.
> 
> A direct follow-up is planned, hence the series. I'm also hoping I might use Jeynas again in some random ideas but let's see what season 2 has going on first.

 

 

“Lieutenant Stamets!”

 

He stopped, waiting for Tilly to catch up to him, and when she did, she wordlessly held out a PADD as they continued down the corridor.

 

“What is it?” he asked, already scrolling through the data but not appreciating the lack of-

 

_Oh._

_That was interesting._

 

“Did you-”

 

“Double checked and the simulation is already running.”

 

“Good.”

 

He turned a sharp left.

 

“I just need to grab something from my quarters and then I’ll be right with you.”

 

“Of course,” she acknowledged, letting herself fall a step behind as they reached the door and Paul put his hand up to the scanner to open it. She seemed eager to get to work and he felt very much the same way, but when his gaze fell into the room in front of him, all thought of hurrying back went out the window and he stopped.

 

He wasn’t believing his eyes. This was like a scene right out of one of those terrible holo series he’d once been made to watch. Only there was no dramatic music, no close up shot of his shocked face, no cut to black,  _to be continued._ Just him, standing in the doorway to his own quarters, watching himself sit across from Hugh at the coffee table. 

 

Behind him, Tilly gasped. Then, the sound of metal hitting the floor. 

Belatedly he realized it must have been the PADD he’d been holding, but in that moment the sound had made the men look up, and most thought processes halted. It was as if the shimmering bubble of a Fata Morgana had burst, only to reveal the same reality underneath. Or it had let him in. Paul stood still, contemplating space time anomalies and exactly how wise it was to interact with those, when the door slid shut in front of him.

 

He continued to stare at it. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tilly covering her mouth, standing with her back against the wall next to him, but he didn’t fully look at her. Didn’t want to encourage her to talk before his own mind had wrapped around the situation.

 

Then the door opened again, bringing Hugh’s face into view as he stood on the other side, and Paul focused on it, hoping for an explanation. None came. Hugh stared right back with the same intensity, as if  _searching_ for something,  before turning around to the other man in the room, and Paul realized he had no idea what was going on, either. 

 

“Hey buddy,” it sounded from inside, and finally the pieces clicked together in Paul’s head. He let out a sigh that was somewhere between relieved and annoyed, knowing that at least they weren’t dealing with another multiverse incident, or temporal anomaly, but only his own poor choice in acquaintances. 

 

“…Paul…?”

 

Hugh had turned back to the door, and his voice was filled with so much uncertainty and underlying fear that annoyance quickly turned to anger as Paul charged past him into the room.

  
“Jey, how many times have I told you that this is _not funny_?! What are you even doing here!?”

 

Jeynas’ face was the picture of innocence.

 

“What.”

 

From the doorway, Tilly cleared her throat.

  
“I erm...”

 

She had picked up the PADD and indicated taking her leave now that this was apparently a personal issue, but Hugh stopped her.

 

“Tilly. Please, come in. You’re seeing this too, right? I’m not loosing my mind?”

 

She nodded, and carefully stepped inside.

 

“Hugh,” Jeynas said, drawing the attention back to themself, “allow me to introduce you to Jeynas. They’re trying to be clever.”

 

Paul snapped his head around to squint at them. They never did know when enough was enough.

 

“ _Hugh-_ ”

 

But Hugh had recovered by now and made them both shut up with a single look. He needed to approach this rationally. He was a  doctor, and like any scientist faced with a problem, it was all about gathering information, finding what’s wrong, and then deciding on how to fix it.

 

“Computer, lights to 100%.”

 

None of the Pauls winced enough to be suspicious, so he revoked the command.

 

“You don’t have a twin,” he tried instead, directing it at both of them.

 

“No,” left-Paul answered, “they’re a shapeshifter.”

 

Hugh raised his eyebrows. That would certainly explain things, but he had never heard of any species that was this proficient at imitating a human form. He took a closer look at left-Paul, while Tilly was apparently having similar doubts, whispering “Those exist?” and earning a  _duh-_ noise from right-Paul. Maybe she could shed some light on the situation.

 

“What happened before you got here?” he asked her.

 

“I found him in the corridors, he was on his way back from the mess hall.”

 

Hm. That didn’t help. 

 

“Mine came back ten minutes earlier.”

 

He nodded towards right-Paul, and then went looking for his tricorder, giving Tilly time to pipe up, “Lieutenant,” in a terrible attempt to sound casual. “Could you tell me again what’s the ideal temperature for the cultivation bay?”

 

Paul rolled his eyes. But if this was what would sort this whole mess out, so be it. He was almost certain Jeynas wouldn’t be able to give a precise answer, and Hugh had stepped right in front of them, scanning them fake head to fake toe, and he would surely pick up on that. Ha!

 

“It’s 26 degrees for the new batch and 24 for the rest, as long as all other parameters are normal,” Jeynas said, locking eyes with Hugh, and Paul couldn’t help but throw them a surprised look. Well, someone had done their homework. That, or they had actually been listening to Paul’s ramblings. How unfortunate.

 

“And if you ask me that _one more time_ -”

 

“Shit.”

 

All eyes were on Hugh, who turned to Paul with a grimace.

 

“Paul, I’m so sorry. I should have noticed.”

 

He smiled, even though he had no idea how Hugh had known. For a second he thought it might be because he wouldn’t talk to Tilly like that, annoying or not, he would never discourage her from asking questions and double checking, because that way he could be sure that if she didn’t, she absolutely knew what she was doing. And he couldn’t even say that about half of the rest of his staff. But then again, it didn’t seem enough to go on.

 

“You’re forgiven.”

 

“What?! But that was the right answer!” Jeynas cried, and Paul grinned now, looking forward to rubbing it in.

 

“It’s true love, dumbass. He’d recognize me anywhere across the multiverse just by the magic between us,” he singsonged dramatically, and Hugh only shot him a look before he faced Jeynas, holding up the tricorder.

 

“Your DNA doesn’t match.”

 

“What the _fuck_ , Paul.”

 

Whether that was in response to Paul or the fact that his DNA obviously must have changed since they last met, they don’t specify.

 

“Don’t be like that, you should be glad he didn’t try to kiss you or you would have given yourself away even sooner.”

 

“What makes you think we weren’t passionately making out before you got here,” Jeynas deadpanned, and Paul didn’t hesitate.

 

“A, even you aren’t that much of an asshole, and B, you kiss exactly like one imagines a pile of goo would.”

 

“I’m a fantastic kisser,” Jeynas said, pulling a face of fake outrage that looked entirely _off_ with Paul’s features, and so he quickly changed the subject before they could try a demonstration.

 

“Now that that’s settled, can you please change to someone else, this is creeping me out.”

 

“It’s only your face.”

 

“Exactly. Come on, how about Steve. Give me Steve.”

 

“You always did like Steve, didn’t you?” Jey winked at him. “Unfortunately though, Steve is banned from all Starfleet premises. You’ll have to put up with Owen instead. Or Otyzia! Do you know Otyzia yet? Andorian. It’s _so_ hard to get those antennae just right, and-”

 

“Owen will be fine,” Paul interrupted, as expected, and Jeynas made a show out of changing fully into their liquid state before taking the familiar form of Owen. 

 

“Ah. Much better. Being you is exhausting, you know that?”

 

Paul ignored them.

 

“Hugh, Tilly, this is Jeynas,” he instead introduced pointlessly. “Or rather, Owen, In this form. They’re um… an old friend. Jey, you probably know who they are.”

 

“Yes. Your ridiculously intelligent minion and your ridiculously attractive boyfriend. When did that happen?”

 

“I don’t know, while you were off selling yourself to the highest bidder, presumably.”

 

This again.

 

“There was a war looming, my services were needed,” they explained, even though Paul obviously wasn’t listening anymore. He’d walked over to Hugh, who still seemed a bit shocked by the whole shapeshifting thing, making sure he was okay, holding his hand, and being altogether very soft and caring. How cute. So much intimacy, and that in the presence of a colleague. Speaking of which, they looked over to Tilly, and she didn’t even seem surprised by any of that. Did they miss that much in the last few years? Or should maybe they be the one questioning whether that was the real Paul in front of them?

 

“You’re not really angry that I didn’t take the chance to tell the Klingons all about your mushrooms, are you.”

 

Paul turned around, narrowing his eyes.

 

“Which brings us back to the question: Why are you here now?”

 

And they could see Paul silently begging that it wasn’t work. That they were not payed to snoop around the Discovery and pry into Paul’s business once more to find out what makes it so special. That they only wanted to visit an old friend. They smiled apologetically.

 

Paul groaned.

 

“I’m afraid it was inevitable after all the stunts you pulled. I just wanted to say hi.”

 

It was silent for a while, and Jeynas looked around into confused and shocked faces.

 

“Well,” they started again, “don’t let me keep you, I’m sure you’re all very busy. Hugh-” they threw a mock salute, “nice chatting with you.”

 

And then they disappeared, flowing through the ventilation shaft.

 

“Sir,” Tilly asked the second they were gone, “… how much do they know about the spores?”

 

“Too much, for my liking. But we can’t change that. We can only make sure it doesn’t get more,” Paul said pointedly, warning her to be on alert, and that there would be a massive increase in security measures.

 

“Understood,” she nodded, still looking unsure. “But… why are we not… reporting them to Starfleet?”

 

Apart from the fact that it would be kind of difficult to hand someone over who could turn into a puddle at any moment, there was also another problem.

  
“Because Starfleet is already aware.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeynas is loosely inspired by Jib Janeen because I've been listening to too much thrilling adventure hour.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this is the first time i've used 'add chapter' this is exciting
> 
> anyway. my brain didn't cooperate on this cause it was too preoccupied with the happenings of season 2, so this is more of a product of writing for writings sake. maybe someone will have a 3am laugh about it.

 

 

“And then she says, _‘With all due respect, sir,’_ you know, with the most _serious_ face-” 

 

Tilly was telling a story to the table, and Jeynas actually found themself interested after listening in on the entire breakfast conversation. They were restricted to more passive forms of information gathering since Paul had forbidden them – for reasons not quite clear to them yet – to impersonate any of the crewmembers. It seemed a touchy subject, so they had promised. It was safer this way as well, seeing as not knowing what exactly had happened would surely lead to complications. And they kind of liked the challenge. Currently, they were Paul’s Starfleet badge. Or rather,  _a_ Starfleet badge, that Paul had mistakenly pinned to his uniform in the morning. It gave them a good view of the table – Culber, Burnham, Tilly, Detmer, Owosekun – though the best place to get information about what was going on with this ship was of course the bridge, so they were only waiting for a distraction to get to the bridge officers.

 

“She says, _‘This is a science vessel. And if Tilly wants us to speak space whale, that’s by far not the weirdest thing we have done in the name of exploration.’_ ” 

 

Everyone chuckled over their meals and Jeynas took the opportunity to let go of their position and their solid form, and ran down Paul’s front to his knee, on to the leg of the table, to crawl to the other side, and,  _wow_ , this was disgusting. These were grownup Starfleet officers and not schoolkids, one would think they could keep the underside of a table clean. It took some heavy evasive maneuvering to reach Detmer, but once they did, they dropped down to her chair, swung around to the back where she had hung her jacket, and unobservedly took it’s place as it fell.

 

“Well, we should get going,” Owosekun said, still grinning, and stood, waiting for Detmer to follow suit. She did, grabbing the jacket and putting in on loosely before returning her tray. Everything going to plan. 

 

They were almost out of the mess hall when Jeynas heard a soft,  “Paul, did you forget your badge again? ” with a groan following that let them know Paul knew he hadn’t.  But by then it was too late and they were already on their way to the bridge, where they would happily stay until the end of shift, observing.

 

And indeed, a few hours later when Detmer’s relief had arrived and they were back in the turbolift, they had learned a few things. One, Lieutenant Bryce of communications was deadly allergic to carrots. Two, Detmer and Owosekun were either dating or had planted a whoopee cushion in the captain’s chair for all the knowing looks being passed between them. And three, whatever was going on on this ship had to do with Stamets. Of course. So their next move would be getting into his lab – just like old times. 

For that to be possible they had to get away from Detmer first, though, meaning she had to get out of uniform. And by the looks Owosekun was giving her, that might not be very soon.

 

“Do you wanna go grab a hot chocolate in the mess hall?” she asked, and Jeynas wished they had eyes to roll right now. Detmer beamed.

 

“Sure.”

 

 

*

 

 

Tilly entered the forest and made her way to section 3B for a routine check on their problem plant. It better had a good reason if it had gone limp again, or she would have to have a serious word with it. Turning left when she reached the right row, she prepared herself for whatever would await her, but something moved in the corner of her eye, making her stop. She looked down, and there it was again. Something crawling around the floor, quickly, and then it changed direction, coming at her, and she jumped back. She was balancing on one of the railings by the time her training kicked back in.

 

“Computer, containment field in 3B24 and 25.”

 

The field hissed into place and she got back down to the floor, clearing her throat. 

Now that the creature was forced to stay unmoving, Tilly could identify it as a sort of spider, but when she knelt down to get a closer look, it didn’t look like any one she had seen before. Then again, no spider of any sort should be able to get in here at all. So how-

Her thoughts were interrupted as the door opened and Stamets rushed in, probably alerted to the containment field.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

Tilly waited until he had joined her and then just pointed at the creature. Stamets regarded it for a long moment.

 

“Computer, deactivate containment field.”

 

“Sir?”

 

As soon as the field disappeared, the spider made a run for the trees, but Stamets stopped it by slamming his boot down on it. Tilly threw him a shocked look. She was about to say something when he lifted his foot again, and she recognized the formless pile of Jeynas. Oh.

Before she knew it they had shifted into Owen, and were brushing off imaginary dirt, staring at Stamets.

 

“Not cool, man!”

 

 

*

 

 

Paul was going over their latest calculations in the lab when his PADD lit up with a message. It was from Hugh, so he opened it.

 

_[hey]_

 

Well, that was uncharacteristic. Hugh usually got to the point when Paul was on shift, so he could read it and reply whenever he found the time.

 

_[what],_

 

he wrote back, turning to his console again, but the response was almost immediate.

 

_[just checking if you were busy. im having an unexpected break]_

 

What was this about? 

A notification told him that Tilly had forwarded her results to him, so he looked at those first, confident that they would bring more progress.

When he didn’t immediately find something, he picked his PADD back up to distractedly type another message.

 

_[well you could come by the lab, but i have work to do]_

 

_[shame. i still feel bad about yesterday. i wanted to make it up to you]_

 

_[i told you its fine]_

 

Going back to the data, he went through it methodically, forcing himself to assess every line individually, and he could feel himself slip into concentration again, until something clicked together inside his brain and he stood up straight in realization. He reached for the PADD.

 

_[wait is this your way of asking me for a quickie in the storage rooms]_

 

_[;-)]_

 

 

He didn’t know how long he was mindlessly staring down at the conversation before Tilly passed his station and eyed him curiously.

 

“Is everything okay?”

 

He looked up with his eyes only, staying completely still until he made a decision.

 

“Excuse me for a moment.”

 

And then he marched out of the lab, PADD in hand, down the corridor to engineering’s scrap metal recycling station. He passed an officer as he entered and waved the PADD in explanation, but just as he made to throw it into the pit, he found it glued to his hand. Just as he thought then. The PADD melted into a thick liquid, dropping to the floor and forming a shaking human.

 

“No reason to-” they got out between laughs, taking a deep breath, “-to overreact.”

 

Laughing turned into hysterical giggling, and they were even holding their tummy for effect, even if none of these things came naturally to them.

 

“You should have _seen_ your _face_!”

 

 

*

 

 

“Sir? Do you know Ensign Ograiki?”

 

He shook his head.

 

“This is a big ship. Why?”

 

Tilly shifted her weight to one foot and joined her hands in front of her.

 

“...she just asked me out.”

 

Paul blinked. It was moments like this when he was reminded of how young she still was, even after all the time they had now been working together. What did she want, advice? He hadn’t become that much of a father figure, had he?

Probably unsettled by his silence and growing frown, she continued.

 

“I think she might be… you know… Jeynas.”

 

Oh,  _Tilly_ . Did she really think that lowly of herself that the best explanation for someone asking her out was that it’s a con job? He’d thought her to be more self-confident by now. He went to tell her as much, but she was apparently expecting it, and interrupted him.

  
“Nobody asks me out right after meeting me. And, if someone were to try and gain information about the spores, I would kinda be the obvious choice.”

 

“Tilly,” he finally stopped her, “I don’t believe you would give away our secrets.”

 

“No, but you _know_ me,” she insisted, and maybe she did have a point. Jeynas was aware what she was capable of, and that she was working closely with him. And even a better judge of character than Jeynas might try to honey-trap her. He took a step back, thinking it over.

 

“You said they won’t take the form of a crewmember, but what if Ograiki isn’t? That’s a loophole.”

 

He nodded.

 

“I’ll check.”

  
“Thank you,” she sighed, turned away to leave, but stopped herself again. “Erm. Could I maybe leave a little early tomorrow? Just in case she’s genuine, I _would_ like to go on that date.”

 

Paul smiled.

 

“Of course.”

 

 


End file.
